My third time doing an event at Hever. Overall it’s a lovely race but let down slightly this year by navigation on the swim section. The information provided in advance is plentiful- there is a lot of info to sift through to find your event- but is thorough and useful. Despite having done the event in the past (although granted, the route was different), watched the YouTube video in advance and listened to the pre-race brief, several of us still managed to get the swim route wrong. The kayaker in the river section wasn’t particularly helpful- he was asking those of us in the water which distance we were doing (not helpful when you can’t hear very well in the water, don’t know who is being spoken to, and can’t see well through steamy goggles), rather than just shouting out instructions like ‘people in orange hats doing the 1.9k swim, turn at the first buoy and those doing 2k, (in whatever hat colour it was) continue to the second buoy). The river section got really congested and wasn’t divided the whole way meaning one of the swimmers who went off first veered into the opposite side of the river and I narrowly avoided a head on collision. Several of us then headed off towards a wrong buoy. Last year the kayak marshalls seemed better at shouting out instructions to stop people going off track. I’m saying this as someone who reviewed all of the info in advance- it is surprising how easy it is to become disoriented in the water. The run section is nice. Not PB potential as it is undulating and uneven in places- but I like that kind of run. Would love it if one day the route is extended so there is no need to do multiple laps of the same route for the half marathon distance and above. Most of the marshalls on the run seemed like college age- all enthusiastic and gave claps and cheers which is appreciated. I take my own food and water so didn’t use the feed stations but they are the best stocked I’ve seen at any event. Didn’t have spectators with me this year but the event village itself is really nice. Lots of families and people having food and drink. Does feel a bit like a festival. All in all a really good event and would recommend. I mention the downsides only to provide feedback to work on in the hope of creating an even better event next year!

Nice event overall, river section of swim wasn’t as good as the main lake section felt tight with swimmers going both directions, and run course was tough and very rugged. However it was well organised, routes well signposted, good briefings, lots of marshalls and transition was easy! Not many participants per event which meant it lost a little bit of the competitive atmosphere

Lots of pre-race information sent well in advance of the event. Despite watching the race briefings several times before race day (and listening attentively to the briefing on race day itself) I still found the swim course tricky to navigate. Some more kayakers on the course would have been helpful and perhaps some different coloured buoys, particularly on the parts where you're going back on yourself. Lots of weeds in the water too but it was a nice comfortable temperature which made up for that! Run course was really scenic, although pretty hilly with lots of twists and turns and uneven ground so you needed to be really careful. Plenty of marshals around to direct you (generally not needed because of signage but was appreciated nonetheless). All marshals were really friendly and encouraging to competitors coming round. Great finish line experience, lots of food on offer and commentator was ace! Cool castle shaped medal (although I've noticed it is identical to last year's!). Will definitely be back.

Great atmosphere and super friendly - all the marshalls were very supportive! The brief was great, but still got lost on the swim, and the water lilies in the lake made it hard going at times. The run was fun, but hilly and quite uneven under foot, especially for those used to road running!

My first aquathlon and really enjoyed it. Overall I preferred the swim to the run. - Pros - beautiful lake, well marshalled (but equally they kept a reasonable distance so you felt able to enjoy the surroundings) - Nice medal - Impressed with well-stocked and varied feed stations - Helpful swim intro from the race director Cons - half marathon route was 2 laps. I tend not to enjoy these as much as it means coming via the finish line and then round again. Route was undulating through the countryside, but was often where horses had been so very uneven and (this year anyway!) hard underfoot. Not ideal for a PB as some paths were single file, so difficult to overtake - No tshirt included - Spectators had to pay almost £13 each, which made the day very expensive... The swim was reasonably spectator friendly, but obviously they can't see you out on the run course